Journal Notes
Client: Crosswinds Framework
Date: December 5, 2023
Category: WordPress Themes
![Screenshots from the Journal Notes demo sites](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-cover-1024x576.png&nocache=1)
The Journal Notes theme is a free child theme of the Crosswinds Framework.
I wanted to create a really simple theme for the Framework that could be used by anyone, and what better way than to create a really simple blogging theme.
There’s honestly not a whole lot to this theme. It looks similar to a lot of blog themes in the WordPress landscape, only this is a block theme. That means users can customize all of it in the dashboard.
With that in mind, I added some options for how a user can easily change the theme around to make it unique to them. First, the page headers can be swapped around from a cover and image background to a simple color background or no background. And each of the blog post listings on the home and archive pages can be changed between a cover background with just the title to a featured image, title, excerpt and more.
In the end, I think this is a good theme for someone who wants a simple blog website but also wants to be able to customize their entire website without needing to write any code.
![Screenshot of the site editor for the Journal Notes site with the colors and styles panels](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-editor-1024x1024.png&nocache=1)
![Screenshots of the homepages for the Journal Notes demo sites](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-homepages-1024x1024.png&nocache=1)
![Screenshots from the Journal Notes demo sites](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-imagination-1024x1024.png&nocache=1)
![Screenshot of the monospace version of the Journal Notes theme](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-monospace-1024x768.png&nocache=1)
![Screenshot of the page patterns in Journal Notes](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-page-patterns-1024x1024.png&nocache=1)
![Screenshot of the Journal Notes page patterns](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-patterns-1024x576.png&nocache=1)
![Screenshots of the blog post pages from the Journal Notes demo sites](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-posts-1024x1024.png&nocache=1)
![Screenshot of the sans serif version of the Journal Notes theme](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-sans-serif-1024x768.png&nocache=1)
![Screenshot of the serif version of the Journal Notes theme](https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://jacobmartella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/journal-notes-serif-1024x768.png&nocache=1)